North Korea has apparently restarted its nuclear reprocessing facility at Yongbyon to produce plutonium, two days after it conducted a second nuclear test, Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday.
The Yongbyon facility had been undergoing a disablement process under an aid-for-denuclearization deal signed in 2007.
Pyongyang said in April that it will restart the nuclear facility, reacting to a U.N. Security Council statement that condemned its long-range rocket launch earlier that month.
Yonhap also reported that North Korea launched an additional short-range missile from its east coast Tuesday night, quoting an official at the South Korean presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae.
"The North appears to have launched a ground-to-ship missile into the East Sea shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday," the official said, asking not to be identified. Pyongyang had launched two short-range missiles from its east coast earlier Tuesday, following its supposed nuclear test the day before.
Officials believe the missile launches are partly aimed at preventing South Korean and U.S. reconnaissance planes from nearing the communist state to verify its claimed nuclear test.
Earlier reports said there were also signs of imminent missile launches on the North's west coast. The official at the presidential office said the North has yet to launch any missile from the west.